“I met you at a gas station in Indiana with a bunch of my bike riding brothers. You handed out CDs and I was kinda sceptical, but took one anyway. You guys ‘f*#+&n’ rock! I can’t get your music out of my head.” - ‘Jackyl’ … Rider of Undisclosed Affiliation

Jackyl’s reaction (above) to hearing Stormcellar is not unusual. Though irritating the ‘Genre Gatekeepers’ of almost all the major styles by refusing to stay in any one category and as a result, having been pursued with torches and pitchforks by Country folk, Blues folk, Folk folk, Jazz folk, Pop folk (and other folk who join the mobs, just because it looks like fun), those who love the band, LOVE the band. In fact, they’ve received critical acclaim in Australia, New Zealand, the US, France, Canada and the UK.

In 10 years, Stormcellar has played over 500 shows, completed four U.S. Tours and released nine albums, three of which have hit No. 1 on the Australian Blues & Roots Charts.

At any one of those shows, audiences may have seen Cellists, American Soul and Gospel Artists from the 60’s, Mongolian Throat Singers, Champion Australian Fiddle Players, Puppets, Multimedia displays, Light Shows, UV Face Painters, Flamenco Dancers and Singers, Magicians and any of over 60 different local supporting and co-billed bands.

The band has scoured countrysides from the mid-west of rural Australia, to the Mid-West and East Coast of the United States in search of the shared myth that connects Celtic, Folk, Roots, Blues, Country and Rock. They’re probably the first Australian band ever to have written original songs recorded for and by authentic Delta Bluesmen.

After a decade playing lounge rooms, back porches, paddocks, dive bars, pubs, clubs, Biker rallies, VFW halls, RSLs, ‘Bowlos’, Festivals and even the occasional Arena, Stormcellar is undoubtedly one of the most prolific, constantly working, original writing acts in Australia. They’ve performed everywhere from Wollongong to Nashville and recorded everywhere from top US studios to the porch of a farmhouse in Cumnock, NSW, the dome of Skywatch Observatory in the ‘Dark Skies’ area of Coonabarabran, in the streets of Sydney, on Sydney Harbour and Coogee Beach… and on about every medium except wax cylinder!

Stormcellar has never shied away from following its own path… and now that path has led them back to Roseville, the suburb that provided the platform for their genesis. Let’s welcome them back with open arms. (Please leave your pitchforks at home.)

“Luke Escombe is funny and brave, a showman and an artist, a brilliantly engaging lyricist, expert tunesmith, fine guitarist and exceptional singer. Seldom is such sophistication wrapped in a coating of such overt fun. Hear him.” - John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald

Luke Escombe has of course played many times at Eastern Lounge and also MC’d the long-lamented Mr K’s Cabaret to roaring approval. His latest show, written for the upcoming capital cities’ Fringe Festival circuit, is called ‘Disrespectability’. In it, Luke explores a vibrant, surreal and relentlessly hilarious landscape peopled by vampires, pimps and other secret beasts of the middle-class male psyche.

Luke is an award-winning songwriter, internationally acclaimed health advocate and respectable Northern Beaches father. He doesn’t believe in priests, has no concept of discretion and can’t afford a therapist. Instead, every few years the silly and puerile thoughts that make him snicker into his pillow at night, gang up on him and form into songs, which he really shouldn’t play to anyone. And yet he’s back at Eastern Lounge to do just that.

Be warned: you’ll be singing these songs in your head for weeks afterwards!

In the past, he has drawn comparisons to Nick Cave, Tim Minchin and Flight of the Conchords. He’s played everywhere from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival to the Edinburgh Fringe and received rave reviews for every performance.

Last year Luke won an international award for his health advocacy, which has seen him earn standing ovations on four continents. He is the creator of beloved Australian kids band The Vegetable Plot and an in-demand inspirational speaker at events across the country, not to mention (although we are) the proud owner of ‘Sydney’s Sexiest Man Voice’, a title he won in a radio competition on Mix 106.5 FM.

For his latest adventure into ‘adult’ musical comedy, Luke is joined onstage by versatile backing band Kimono Dragon, featuring Nick Hoorweg on Bass and Jess Ciampa on Percussion. Luke Escombe is indisputably one of the best kept secrets in the Australian music industry… except here at Eastern Lounge. See him again while you can!